The present invention pertains to a device for assembling sectioned articles and more particularly to a jig for use in assembling stained glass sections together.
It is conventional to assemble stained glass sections and solder the sections together in the form of a stained glass lamp shade. The assembly of stained glass lamp shades is generally accomplished by manually cutting glass sections for the desired lamp shade configuration, placing a metallic foil about the peripheral edges of the stained glass sections and then soldering the glass sections together. During the soldering operation, adjacent sections are typically manually held or propped in some form or manner so as to permit the soldering of the adjacently positioned glass sections together. The assembly of the stained glass sections by this technique is labor intensive and tedious.
Lamp shade kits equipped with all of the necessary pieces for lamp shade assembly are commercially available. These kits may include precut glass sections already wrapped with foil and a top cap. The top cap is an apertured annular ring of a circumferential or chordal size within which the top edges of the glass sections may be positioned in a side-by-side relationship and soldered together using the top cap as a template.
The manufacturer of lamp shades from stained glass sections creates particularly difficult work tasks in that the stained glass sections must be maintained in a precise configuration so as to yield the desired aesthetic product. Considerable experience is required in order to place and maintain each section at the correct angular configuration and to maintain the desired configuration consistently throughout the entire soldering process so that the end product exhibits the desired aesthetic symmetry in design. Under existing technology it is extremely difficult to consistently maintain all of the stained glass sections together at precisely the same angular pitch so that the soldered end product exhibits a symmetrical configuration throughout its entire design.
The patent literature is relatively silent as to jigs which may be used in the manufacture of soldered stained glass sections. The prior art has utilized jigs in the manufactured lamp shades constructed of fabrics.
There exists a need for an assembling jig for stained glass sections which would permit each stained glass section to be positioned at a precise angular and radial pitch throughout the entire construction so as to permit the artisan to tack and solder the stained glass sections together in a consistent reproductive and precise patterned array.
The present invention provides a mechanical assembling device for use in the manufacture of stained glass lamp shades. The device allows one to assemble stained glass sections at more precise angular pitches and radial dispositions. Adjacent stained glass sections may be tacked and soldered together in a precise and repetitive manner with exacting precision so that each successive stained glass section bears the same in angular disposition and placement as each other section within the soldered stained glass lamp unit. This allows the assembler of soldered stained glass lamps to reproduce, with great precision, a host of identically configured stained glass lamp shades.
The lamp jig device includes an upper suspension system for retaining a bottom portion of glass section and a base retaining section for retaining top portions of stained glass sections at a predetermined angular and radial configuration. An annular ring (such as the top cap supplied with stained glass lamp shade kits) of a circumference sufficient to retain adjacently positioned top portions of the glass sections in an equidistant cordial relationship may be used as the base retaining section. The upper suspension assembly includes a vertical support or post, an adjustable disc which may be variably adjusted along the post, graduated or calibrated anchoring sites radially positioned about the disc, suspended guides such as guy wires for anchoring onto the anchoring sites at calibrated intervals and adjustable clasping members supported by the guy wires for clasping and maintaining bottom portions of stained glass sections at a predetermined angular pitch. The disc may be adjusted at varying heights along the vertical support or post so as to accommodate glass sections of various sizes and at different pitches. The disc includes a plurality of anchoring sites in the form of calibrated anchoring apertures positioned at gradient angular vectors about the outer periphery of the disc. The anchoring sites are positioned in incremental angular gradients so as to provide angular degrees comparable to the number of glass sections. The supporting guide wires are fitted with anchoring connectors for anchoring onto the disc and adjustable clasping member for clasping onto the glass sections at an opposite wire end. A springed clasping member (such as a clothes pin) for clasping onto a glass section, a guy wire guiding ferrule equipped with a set screw for seating the clasping member at a desired clamping position along the guy wire may be used as the adjustable clasping member . When it is, for example, desired to construct a six (6) sectioned stained glass lamp shade, the top portion of one of the stained glass sections is placed in the annular ring and the guy wire is appropriately anchored to the disc anchoring site suitable for the assembly of a six (6) sectional lamp shade. The bottom portion of each glass section is then clasped by the clasping member and adjusted to the desired angular pitch by sliding the ferrule guided clasping member along the guy wire. When the desired angular pitch is achieved, the set screw is tightened to anchor the clasping member to the guy wire. The next adjacently positioned stained glass section may then be placed at an adjacently positioned 60 angular degree anchoring site from the first anchoring site for the first positioned glass section. The clasping member is clasped onto the bottom portion of the second glass section and the clasping member is then adjusted and set to position the adjacently positioned section at the same angular pitch as the first section. The set screw is then set onto the wire so as to maintain the second clasping member and the stained glass section in the precise configuration as desired for tacking and then soldering. This process is sequentially repeated until all of the remaining glass sections are assembled and tacked together. This reproducible procedure maintains all of the assembled glass sections at precise angular pitches and radial dispositions. The assembler merely tacks and solders together the two (2) sections without manually holding either of the two (2) sections. The device permits for the manufacture of extremely uniform lamp shade configurations with each glass section being maintained at a precise angular pitch and radial disposition from one another. The device reduces costs and wastes while also significantly reducing the time needed to manufacture stained glass lamp shades.